The Protector
by Phoenix Estheim
Summary: Vaan and the orphans of Rabanastre used to have a 'mother' but after the murder of the king she was taken. Who was she? What happened to her? What difference will she have on the story? OC won't appear until later on. Warning slash parirings OOC
1. Chapter 1 Waking up in the dark

Title: The Protector

Summary: Vaan and the orphans of Rabanastre used to have a 'mother' but after the murder of the king she was taken. Who was she? What happened to her? What difference will she have on the story? Warning slash parirings OOC

Pairings: mostly undecided, Vaan/Balthier

Warnings: Slash, mildly OOC Characters

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XII all recognisable characters don't belong to me

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Chapter 1 – Waking up in the dark

What happened? Dull light strikes his eyes as he stares up at the ceiling wondering where he was and how he got here. Blinking the surrounding area came into focus; he was in what looked like a dungeon underneath the sand. Watching sand fall through the ceiling Vaan shot up with a start as he remembered what happened, sneaking into the palace, finding the stone, Balthier and Fran chasing him, escaping though the sewers, meeting 'Amalia" and battling the Firemane before being captured by imperials. Quickly his hand flew up to check on the feathered earing he always wore in his left ear. Feeling its comforting weight he relaxed slightly.

"You're awake"

Vaan jumped and spun round to see Balthier sitting nonchalantly on a broken pillar behind him. Looking as if he was sitting in a bar rather than wherever they had been taken.

"Where are we and where is Fran?"

"Prison, where else? More like a dungeon really but it's really all the same."

Balthier ignored the second question, choosing instead to stare at Vaan or rather the earing he was wearing.

"It's interesting how the first thing you do is to check on that earing of yours. Doesn't look valuable but I've nether seem feathers like it. Where did you get it?"

"It's a gift from a friend."

Vaan replied defensively. Slowly he got to his feet gingerly holding his head trying to ascertain the damage done by those dratted imperials. Hearing a high pitched scream from the entrance to the room Vaan took an automatic step back wondering at what could make that kind of sound. Stumbling slightly he looked down to see a dead Bangaa, jumping slightly he started again at Balthier's voice.

"Relax, it's just a corpse. Jump at every little thing down here and you'll wear yourself out. It's not even a proper dungeon. They just sealed off the bottom level of the fortress."

Vaan wondered how he could look so unbothered and calm, normally Vaan wouldn't be worried but he had no idea if his goal for that evening had succeeded and he worried about the others especially Penelo. Rubbing his head again he could feel a dull throb where the imperial hit him. Balthier noticed this and sighed.

"Why did you provoke that imperial? You must have known that they would strike you. Either you are more idiotic than I thought or it must be something to do with that girl."

Vaan stiffened, weighing up his options as it didn't look like Balthier would not let him answer and he wasn't sure that he could trust him with the truth. Deciding to give him a short answer he relaxed slightly.

"The girl is called Penelo, she is an orphan like me however she has been sheltered and doesn't know about what the imperial soldiers do to people like us. Besides I knew I could take what they gave, she couldn't. Anyway like I asked before where's Fran?"

Balthier sighed knowing that there was more to what Vaan was saying but knew he wouldn't get anything more out of him yet. Despite the outward signs of Vaan just being a simple street rat he could sense that there was more lying beneath the façade.

"She's off to find us a way out."

Vaan waited to see if he would elaborate but after it became apparent that he wouldn't he went to look around. He trusted that Fran would find a way out, one thing he had learnt was that you could always trust a Viera's senses and given how infamous Balthier and how he was acting it is obvious that he had broken out of many places before.

"Remember what curiosity killed. Just a friendly word of advice."

Balthier's voice carried out to Vaan even as he continued out of the room. Looking back he saw Balthier pull out a wineskin from his belt and gesture to it.

"This is all the water we've got. I'd save your strength if I were you."

Vaan ignored his warning, he was used to not having enough water, one of the hazards of being a street rat in a desert city, there were often droughts and he had gotten used to them long ago. He continued out of the room and found himself in a large open area where other prisoners could walk around freely. He could tell from looking which ones where new to the prison as they still looked semi decent in body condition, talking to some of the prisoners that had been here for longer he found the schedule for the food and water delivery, who to watch out for and who t straight out avoid. Apparently there were a group of three Seeqs that attacked the other prisoners for no reason than for fun.

Continuing to explore the area he stumbled upon a hidden doorway to another part of the prison, going through he wasn't prepared for the sight of a massive gladiator style arena sunken in the middle of the room making it easy for people to get in but not out. Hearing a loud thump he looked to see a dead Bangaa that had just fallen from the roof before one that looked close to death fell down after it. As soon as the injured one landed he (for the Bangaa appeared to be male) started to try to get away, shortly after two large Seeqs jumped down after it and continued to assault the unfortunate victim, before he could even think what he was doing Vaan called out to the Seeqs. Hearing his insult they turned and before he could really react he was hit from behind by a third Seeq that had been hiding in the shadows.

Coming round from darkness for the second time in a few hours Vaan found himself being dragged over the sand, suddenly he felt himself being drooped and he looked up to see himself in the arena he had seen earlier. Scrambling up he glanced around to see the three Seeqs circling him. Internally berating himself for his stupidity he got ready to fight.

"Something stinks in here alright. I've changed my mind. This is no dungeon, it's a sty."

Hearing Balthier's voice Vaan let out a small sigh, with Balthier here it evened up the odds, he was confident that he may be able to take the Seeqs by himself but he was worried about what injuries he would get. Looking at the Seeqs Vaan could see that they didn't understand the insult.

"I said you're the one that stinks, ham-shanks. Hear me now?"

Balthier looked annoyed at the stupidity of the Seeqs; he was probably used to a better class of criminal. He vaulted over the railing and landed next to Vaan looking ready to fight. Standing back to back they got ready as the Seeq circled them, suddenly as one the three attacked, Vaan was in his element, before he got his dagger form her he used to defend himself and the other orphans using only his body as a weapon, he was fast, agile and preferred precise hits in the right places over raw strength. In no time at all the three Seeqs had been beaten unconscious they were no match for Vaan and Balthier's fast and agile style. Hearing the fight prisoners had gathered at the rails and when the Seeqs fell more and more turned up, seems these where the Seeq group that Vaan had heard about. Hearing marching from above Vaan and Balthier looked up to see the doors on the higher level opening and heavy armoured soldier marched in with a Bangaa. Hearing Balthier curse they hid at the side of the arena.

"Great. They just don't give up, do they? Now is looking like a good time for us to leave."

Vaan didn't fully understand Balthier's words but he could guess that the Bangaa must be a head-hunter seeing as Balthier was quite infamous although it sounded more personal than just a regular head-hunter. Hearing a noise to the side Vaan looked to see Fran by a partially raised gate, the space was just enough for them to roll out, being cautious they sneaked over and rolled out before Fran shut the gate. Straitening up Balthier motioned for Fran to report her findings confident that she had found something.

"Through the Oubliette, there's a way out. Only…"

Fran paused looking apprehensive.

"Only you sense the Mist"

Balthier finished, this seemed to be a common problem judging by his tone. Fran nodded feeling that no elaboration was needed. Dusting himself off Balthier thought for a second.

"Then we'll need weapons."

Balthier went to continue talking but was interrupted by shouting from above.

"What did you call me? Say that again!"

Looking up it appeared that the imperial soldiers accompanying the Bangaa had taken offense to what he was saying.

"What, couldn't you hear? I merely said that the lot of you are incompetent fools. If you've a sky pirate in your hands, where is he?"

The Bangaa looked as angry as the imperial he was addressing. The imperial seemed to have had enough verbal abuse and snapped back at the head-hunter.

"You'd have done better, Ba'Gamnan? By your own words, it was the imperial army who caught this sky pirate of yours. We've done your job for you! We don't require the assistance of filthy head-hunters. The Empire will restore order here."

Apparently this just enraged the Bangaa even more. This was proving to be quite entertaining to Vaan.

"Eh? What's that you say now? Maybe I'll wet my blade on you… before I kill Balthier."

Before a fight could break out between the two a voice rang out from behind them.

"That's enough Ba'Gamnan!"

The voice was accompanied by the sound of chain mail and shortly after the speaker came into view. It was a man in full heavy armour which was a dark colour with an ornate helmet and cape which had the crest of the empire printed on the back, the helmet obscured his face from view. Vaan heard an sharp intake of breath from behind him and Fran whispered, voice tinged with dread.

"A Judge."

Vaan was confused at the term he had never come across the term before, from the look of him he was high ranking in the army and only the lowly foot solders interacted with the citizens.

"Hmph. The self-proclaimed guardians of law and order in Archadia. They're the elite guard of House Solidor. Which effectively makes them the commanders of the imperial army. If you ask me, they're more executioners than judges."

Balthier spoke voice tinged with bitterness and Vaan sensed that he knew more than he said. There was something personal about the way he spoke. After the argument was abruptly stopped the Judge stalked off with the others scrambling to follow him.

"Where is the Captain?"

"We have him in solitary, Your Honour. We're ready to begin our interrogation."

Vaan was confused what type of captain did they have to warrant solitary, maybe a captain of the resistance? But the way they were talking made it seem like the prisoner had been there for a long time. Vaan turned to see Balthier watching the imperials.

"Time for the hare to follow the fox."

With those words Balthier and Fran began to follow the Judge and his entourage with Vaan scrambling to initially keep up. As they stalked the Judge Fran whispered to Vaan whose confusion must have shown.

"The magicks binding the door to the Oubliette are quite strong. Too strong even for my talents."

"That's why we'll get them to open it for us"

Balthier continued where Fran left on. Vaan felt somewhat envious at their obvious close bond but continued to follow them deeper into the dungeon. Fran, who was leading suddenly skidded to a stop and backtracked with Balthier and Vaan scrambling to do the same.

"Look"

Looking into the room which Fran was interested in, they saw a large pile of various things including armour, weapons and other things. Balthier seemed to brighten up at the sight of the pile.

"Ah! The prison repository of wrested relics and raiments."

Taking that the mean that this is where their and the prisoner's stuff went. Vaan cheerfully joined Balthier and Fran in finding and equipping their lost equipment, he was relieved to find it all undamaged and in the same condition that it was taken in. Having gathered all of their missing stuff they made to leave and catch up with the Judge when Vaan caught sight of a familiar pair of daggers and flute. With a cry of joy he dived at them, snatching them up oblivious to the looks Balthier and Fran where giving him. Lifting the objects from the pile he confirmed that they were the real things and not copies or fakes. The daggers were beautiful with one made of deep obsidian and the other bright silver, they had various runes carved onto the blades and the sheaves where supple dark leather. The flute fit in the sheave next to the daggers and was made from silver as well but with different runes carved onto it. Fastening them onto his waist, keeping it from interfering with his dagger her turned back to see Balthier giving him a look that demanded an explanation.

"They aren't mine, they belong to a friend, she was taken by imperials about 2 years ago shortly after the king was killed. I don't know where she is or even if she is alive but I'll keep these until I know."

With that they started after the Judge, almost running to try and catch up before the opportunity is gone. They caught up just in time to make it through a closing door which locked behind them as soon as they got through. Hiding by the door they looked around to spot several guards patrolling the area. They also saw the back of the Judge as he passed round the corner and into another room.

"There are more turkeys and cutpurses down here. I've had my fill of chains. Let's tread lightly, shall we?"

Balthier voiced what they were all thinking. Keeping quiet they snuck passed the guards, knocking out those that they couldn't go past undetected. Following the Judge they were eventually lead to a small room where they watched as the Judge opened an ornate magical lock, letting the Judge go through they raced into the room before the door could shut. Entering into the Oubliette they looked around the room, it was a large cavernous room with a huge pit in the centre, the Judge and his entourage were gathered close to the edge of the pit and were pulling a cage above the edge of the pit. As the cage came into full view Vaan drew in a furious and shocked breath as the prisoner was none other than the dead Basch fon Ronsenburg, the kingslayer. He watched in shock as the Judge pulled off his helmet to reveal a person who looked disturbingly similar to Basch. They waited for the imperials to finish and leave as they couldn't hear what they were saying.

As soon as the imperials left Vaan took the opportunity and rushed as Basch's cage and leapt on it.

"You! It's your fault! He trusted you! She trusted you…."

Vaan's shouting ceased abruptly as he spotted feathers in Basch's hair. They were identical to the ones in his earing. Staring at them in shock he made to start shouting at Basch again when he heard Balthier telling him to shut up before Fran saying that she is going to drop the cage. Before he could process what she meant he felt an abrupt feeling of weightlessness before they plunged into the darkness below. The last thing he heard was the sound of metal footprints rushing towards the room before all he could see was the darkness and he could only feel the rush of air as they fell before they hit to bottom.

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Hi Phoenix here, this is a story that has stuck in my head for a while, updates may be a bit slow as I have uni work but I will try to update regularly. If you read my other story Stolen Magic I am still writing it but have hit writers block and uni is occupying my time.

Thanks for reading. Please review but no flames please although I accept constructive criticism


	2. Chapter 2 Escape and Explanations

Chapter 2 – Escape and Explanations

Groaning slightly Balthier picked himself and dusted himself off, the fall had been longer than predicted, looking up he could see Fran standing perfectly poised off to the side, Vaan seemed to be unharmed but was lying stunned in a pile of dust and Basch seemed equally stunned lying half out of the now broken remains of what had been his cage. He knew that it would be wiser to travel through this passage as a group especially with the mist Fran smelt. He went and stood next to Fran giving her another check to see if she really was unharmed as she appeared, hearing dual groans from behind him he turned to see that Vaan and Basch were recovering at the same time.

Vaan groaned trying to work out what happened and why he felt so sore, looking to his left he say the scruffy figure of Basch, suddenly he remembered, instantly his demeanour changed and the cheerful and innocent street disappeared and a hardened warrior appeared, before the others could react he leapt at Basch smoothly pulling his dagger out of his sheaf and pinned Basch on his back dagger poised against his throat.

"I will ask once more, where did you get those feathers?"

The dangerous steely voice seemed out of place coming from Vaan and Fran and Balthier were too shocked at the sudden change in Vaan. Basch stared at Vaan in slight confusion at the passion he was showing until he caught sight of the earing he was wearing, at the sight of it he relaxed slightly.

"She gave it to me. You're one of hers then."

It was more of a statement than a question. At Basch's answer Vaan seemed to relax and rolled off Basch, he gave a small nod of the head before the soldier disappeared and the street rat came back, although they could still see the soldier in the way he held his dagger. After Vaan rolled off him Basch gingerly got to his feet, he was slightly unsteady but seemed to steady himself through willpower, although his shakiness was to be expected after two years in that cage. Sheaving his dagger Vaan tuned round to see Balthier's questioning gaze and flinched slightly as he realised that they must have seen the slipping of his mask. Sighing softly rather than giving Balthier the answers he wanted he strode past Balthier and Fran calling behind him.

"We're not safe yet, those imperials may find a way down and I don't know about you but I don't want to be standing here when they do."

Realising that he was right they followed him, Balthier gave Fran a look that said that they should press the matter later when they are out of immediate danger. They followed Vann into a large brightly lit area that has a large machine in the middle which appeared to be a generator with a switch on it that wasn't working. Following the stairs down they found that there was a Bangaa who appeared to be an escaped prisoner; they wondered who he had not escaped yet especially when it turned out that he had the fuse needed to fix the generator and open the large gate that blocked the exit. While the others were up fixing the generator Vaan had a quick conversation about why the Bangaa was still in the room and had not escaped.

"The tunnels are long, dark and have many things lurking in them. I tried escaping when I first got down here but I had to flee as there were too many monsters. If you want to try to get out here is some advice. Don't let the lights go out; if you do things get so much worse."

After those words the Bangaa fell silent, not long after he finished speaking there was an exclamation of triumph from Balthier and the generator hummed into life, Vaan could see the switch that was behind the Bangaa now glowed and looked like it would work. Shortly after the others came back down and when Vaan pressed the switch the gate groaned and slowly opened. Remembering the Bangaa's words Vaan unsheathed his dagger and motioned for the others to also ready their weapons.

As they stepped out of the first corridor the lights started to flicker, looking around they spotted a greenish, blue bug sucking at an exposed power line. As the lights dimmed they head groaning and shuffling from a corridor to the side, turning to face this new enemy they were greeted with the sight of a group of shuffling zombies. Assessing the situation Balthier immediately took charge, being the most experienced in these types of situations.

"Vaan, Basch you deal with the Zombie, Fran and I will deal with the mimic, these things love power and will consume it given half a chance, kill it though and it will give it back."

With those words they rushed into action, Basch used his fists to knock the Zombies back while Vaan slashed at the Zombies using his agility and speed learnt from years in Lowtown to avoid getting hit in return. At the same time Balthier and Fran were also double teaming to confuse and take out the mimic. It didn't take long for both pairs to dispatch their opponents and the lights became bright once again. They kept their weapons out as they continued down the passageway, they kept to a standard formation of Basch distracting the monsters, Vaan darting in and out taking out what he could and Fran and Balthier keeping back and picking off any that got too close. More than once they had to take side tunnels to track down all the mimics that were sucking the power so that they could open the many gates and keep the numerous zombies and other horrors away.

They eventually stumbled on a safe zone where a glowing blue crystal seemed to repel the monsters. By unanimous agreement they all stopped to rest and recover. Basch immediately scavenged from several fallen soldiers to find some armour and a sword to fight with.

"Right before we go any further I would like some answers. Obviously something is going on here and I have a bad feeling that Fran and I will get mixed up in this, so you two, start talking."

Vaan winced at his words and one look at Balthier's face confirmed that he was absolutely serious. Rather than giving in strait away Vaan in turn looked to Basch to start the tale. Giving a sour look at all three of them Basch started his tale of what happened that ill-fated night and what happened to him afterwards.

"That night when we went to rescue the king we went because we had received intelligence that the king was in danger, looking back that must have been an imperial plot to get us there is the first place. My group, which included your brother Reks, went in the back while Vossler's group was a distraction. We slipped in with minimal fighting it seemed too easy, at one point your brother volunteered to stay behind to fight off a group of Imperials that were coming at us from behind. While he fought them I continued on with the rest of the group. When we got to the throne room we found a trap waiting for use, the king was dead and we were surrounded by Imperials, completely outnumbered, we tried to fight them off but one by one all of my party was killed before I was the only one left. They didn't kill me but instead disarmed me, restrained me and hid me to the side. After I was hidden I saw Gabranth, the judge you saw earlier, impersonate me confront Reks before stabbing him. After that I was taken away and have been in that cage ever since until you broke me out. As for how I know her, she met me when I was first promoted to captain, she gave me these feathers saying that as long as I had them I would be able to get help in Rabanastre no matter what happens."

After Basch finished speaking the others were silent thinking about what he has said.

"Quite a story you have there Captain, but still the pieces fit, I'll give you that"

Balthier's voice broke the silence before turning to Vaan and pinning him with an expectant look. He huffed before beginning his tale.

"Five year ago my parent were killed by the plague after that most people assume that Reks and I moved in with Penelo and her parents but they didn't have the space or money, instead we ended up on the streets of Lowtown. Our parents were some of the first casualties and it didn't take long for the plague to wipe out many more of the population, more and more kids like us were driven to Lowtown, for the first few months things were bad, there were too many of us and as Reks and I were some of the oldest we tried our best to look after them. It was a few months after we had been kicked onto the streets when we first met her.

I had just entered Lowtown after a day of pickpocketing in the market area so that we had something to feed us; she was waiting for me just after the entrance. I couldn't see much of her as she wore a long cloak that covered her body and head, while her face was in shadow. I remember being confused as she knew my name and that of my brother's and the names of all of the orphans that were with us, she told me of a safe place for us to stay and offered to help us in providing for the orphans. I was suspicious at first and after she left I scouted out the place by myself, I watched the place for several days but she had spoken the truth, the place was abandoned and was the perfect place to hide all of us. Shortly after we moved in and were much safer than we had been on the streets. We were wary for the first few weeks in the new hiding place but after a while we relaxed, it was soon after when she approached me again.

It was the same place as last time, she was waiting for me and offered to teach me how to fight to defend myself, I was hesitant at first and refused but she came back each day and I grew to trust her. After that she came more often and slowly we accepted her and she took the position of 'mother'. She reduced the strain of looking after the orphans and taught us the skills we needed to survive.

Things were going well or as well as they could when we were living in Lowtown, thieving to survive. Then the war came. The first we heard was when Nabudis fell, the streets were rife with the gossip and it didn't take long for us to figure out what was happening. Penelo's parents were killed during one of the fights and she joined us in our hiding place. When the war started She started to come less and less, shortly after the fortress of Nalbina fell and the prince was killed, then the king agreed to sign that damned treaty. Reks signed up with the military and went with Captain Basch to rescue the king. The next day we got the news that Captain Basch had killed the king and that there was a survivor, my brother.

That night she turned up at the hiding place telling me that there was something that she had to do and that I was to help her. She told me to wait by the entrance to the Garamsythe Waterway for her to turn up with someone, once they arrived I was to take the person to the Giza plains via the door that leads out of Lowtown, bypassing the gate, I was to take her to a chocobo that was at the village in the Giza planes where there would be a soldier waiting to take the person.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, she turned up with a woman who was wearing the same cloak that I had first seen her in, then everything went wrong as we went to go through Lowtown Imperials were suddenly swarming the place, we were backed into a corner when she told me to take the person and run while she held them off, before I could protest she pushed me and the person into a small hole that lead through into the next alley while she took on the numerous imperials. I did the only thing I could, I took the person and ran for it, we eventually made it to the village and I handed over the person to the soldier before sprinting back to Rabanastre as fast as I could, but I was too late. I head from Kytes, another orphan that the Imperials were too numerous and too her away, we were devastated but we had to move on and fast. Shortly after that the Imperials were swarming the streets and life got a lot harder. I had to take over as the head of our group of orphans and our numbers swelled even more after the war finished. Some of them, like Penelo, got lucky and found jobs working in a shop but most of us had to survive by thieving.

For two year we survived, keeping away from the soldiers and living on what we could get, however that changed, Imperials found a small group of the orphans playing in the streets and without a word attacked them. They managed to get away and back to our hiding place but it was almost too late, they were badly injured and there was nothing that we could do to heal them. That night I went to Old Dalan and he told me that way into the palace. I knew that there would be something in the palace treasury to help, white magic strong enough to heal them. As soon as I could I snuck in and found the treasure room, after finding the scroll that detailed how to cast the magic I found the switch for the gem. I remembered one of the things that she had told me. A powerful gem that was hidden in the palace and that would one day be needed. I knew that I couldn't let the imperials get their hands on it so I took it, shortly after you came in and you know the rest.

As for who she is, she is Arra, the Queen of Lowtown and first vassal of the line of King Raithwall. The feathers show that we are one of hers and they are special, if you betray her they turn black and disappear."

The others were silent for a longer time as the processed Vaan's tale. No other words were said as they agreed to continue on. They battled their way through until they reached a large chamber from which they could smell the clean desert air beyond. However before they could get across the room a huge Mimic Queen fell down from the celling along with several of her young, which immediately started to drain the power form several exposed cable around the walls.

Assessing the situation they sprang into action, Fran and Balthier hung back and picked off the Mimic Queen's children to stop the power draining too rapidly, while also taking shots at the Queen herself. Vaan darted around the Queen's feet taking quick and precise swipes at her legs trying to cripple her while Basch swung at her taking small chunks out with each swing. Eventually she fell, however before they could celebrate the chamber began to shake and they rushed towards the exit and ran blindly into the bright sun over the Estersand.

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That's another chapter done. Thank you to the person who reviewed please do. Sorry for the delay I wanted to get this out sooner but had midsemester exams.

Phoenix


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